Kenny Havard
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Kenneth Edward Havard, known as Kenny Havard (born March 1971), is an American politician and businessman serving as the president of West Felician Parish. A
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, he previously served as member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...
from the 62nd district, which encompasses most of
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and West Feliciana parishes and the northwest corner of
East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 ...
, including the city of
Zachary Zachary is a male given name, a variant of Zechariah – the name of several Biblical characters. People *Pope Zachary (679–752), Pope of the Catholic Church from 741 to 752 * Zachary of Vienne (died 106), bishop of Vienne (France), martyr a ...
.


Early life and education

A graduate of Jackson High School in
Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...
, Louisiana, Havard attended ITI Technical College and
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
, both in
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
, to study industrial instrumentation and design.


Career

Prior to his election, he had worked for eighteen years as a manager of engineering sales and a business development executive in the petrochemical, oil, and natural gas industries. Havard vowed in his campaign announcement to work to "create new jobs ... streamline government and rescind current regulation that create barriers for business. We must encourage, not stifle, small business development." Havard is a member of
Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...
, the
Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , ...
and the East Feliciana Parish
Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
. He is a member of the
trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...
, the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. He volunteers for the Easter Seals Foundation. He has been a volunteer youth baseball coach and an appointed member of the Zachary Taylor Parkway Commission.


Louisiana House of Representatives

Havard was elected representative in the general election held on November 19, 2011. The incumbent Tom McVea, a former
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
-turned Republican was
term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
. Havard defeated the Democrat Ken Dawson, 6,626 (61.4 percent) to 4,170 (38.6 percent). Havard won his second term in the House in the primary election held on October 24, 2015, with 8,782 votes (63.4 percent) to Democratic candidate Ronnie Jett's 5,067 ballots (36.6 percent). On May 18, 2016, Havard introduced an amendment to a bill requiring that strippers be over twenty-one years of age. His amendment mandated that strippers also be no more than 28 years old and weigh no more than 160 pounds. He later withdrew the amendment but would not apologize when accused of sexism by his legislative colleague,
Helena Moreno Helena Nancy Moreno (born September 30, 1977) is a Mexican-American realtot, equestrienne, former journalist, and politician serving as the president of the New Orleans City Council and First Division Councilmember-at-Large. Moreno was formerly ...
. She claimed that Havard's amendment would have applied equally to male strippers. Havard said that an apology would have meant obeisance to
political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
. Governor
John Bel Edwards John Bel Edwards (born September 16, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 56th governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Democratic leader of the Louisiana House of ...
called Havard's remark "in bad taste, and it wasn't funny." The incident attracted national attention. On September 25, 2017, Havard issued a statement calling for the state to end all public funding to the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
football team because of player protests. In the race for the West Feliciana Parish presidency, Havard defeated two fellow Republicans, Lauren Field and John Thompson, in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 6, 2018. Havard finished with 2,673 votes (58 percent); Field, 1,277 (28 percent) and Thompson, 630 (14 percent. Turnout exceeded 58 percent of registered voters. Sometimes called a " Republican in Name Only" (RINO), Havard said that he has worked to obtain passage of a balanced budget without causing harm to state services. Havard said that he is frustrated with legislative partisanship and urged legislators to develop "the art of compromise. You don’t get everything you want, they don’t get everything they want, but you move toward helping people." Two candidates remain in the race to succeed Havard in the House. Republican Dennis Aucoin finished the first round of balloting with 2,300 votes (45 percent) and faces a runoff with the
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
Roy Daryl Adams, who drew 1,556 (31 percent).


President of West Felician Parish

Havard was elected parish president of West Feliciana Parish in the primary election held on November 6, 2018, for the position being vacated by Kevin Couhig, who announced his resignation effective December 2018. He will serve through Couhig's unexpired term until December 2019.


Personal life

Havard and his wife, the former Shondell Escher, a public schoolteacher in St. Francisville, have two sons. They are affiliated with the historic Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Havard, Kenny 1971 births Living people Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives People from St. Francisville, Louisiana Businesspeople from Louisiana American Episcopalians Louisiana State University alumni 21st-century American politicians